Millennium Of Blood - The Bear Tavern - Saturday 6th December 2008

Five bands on the bill for the first time so timings were quite tight... however it all went like clockwork.

Through Her Eyes from Dudley were on first and were playing their first gig. Having recently received a copy of their EP I was intrigued to see how it would work live. After a lengthy intro they started off with “Picture” and their nerves settled quickly. They fall into the extreme metal camp with metalcore being the most obvious genre to associate them with. Musicianship was solid throughout, vocals were a mix of barked aggression interspersed with cleaner sections, the latter not working at times I'm afraid. Stop being critical Chop, it was their first gig and they were more than passable! Rest of the set was “Backspace”, “Injustice”, “Smile Carved From Bone”, Sepultura's “Slave New World”, “My Throat” and “Battlecry”. Fellas we are delighted that you played your first gig for us and we wish you every success for the future.

Pariah surprised me tonight. When I saw them at Scruffy's earlier in the year they played precision metalcore, however this set was far more brutal. It was a similar setlist but delivered with much more conviction and aggression. Intriguingly they performed two mini sets, one with two guitarists, the other as a three piece plus vocalist, both working equally well and sounding similarly chunky. The bassist's Whitechapel T shirt may have given a clue to this new found ferocity, good as they were at Scruffy's this was a marked improvement. Setlist; “Avarice”, “Vengeance”, “The Flood”, “Monkey Juice”, “Chaos Reigns” and “Abyss”.

Neandertahl played a set of such staggering fluidity and musical brilliance that it's difficult for me to adequately sum up how good they were. They've been working on a new album which is at the mastering stage as we speak. The first four or five tracks were off the newie and they should have a winner on their hands. Imagine two guitarists duelling alternately and mixing extreme metal and modern prog soloing. This is underpinned by a tremendous six string bassist and a drummer from the Mike Portnoy school of time signatures. They finished with a couple of tracks off their “Aesthetics Degenerate” CD (see CD reviews) and left everyone in the room amazed by their technicality. Absolutely jaw-dropping set.

Hospital Of Death are mad as hatters but also play fast fun thrash like their lives depend on it. Solid as a rock musically, as ever, their vocalist Rev D was truly inspired with some of his song introductions. The Casualty theme was missing tonight, but really that would have been the icing on the cake. Two new songs were aired tonight “Titanus” and “Matron” which I'm sure will feature on the new album soon. These were sandwiched between two triple whammies of older material in the shape of “Down That Hatch”, “I Am A Tiger” and “Eyezabeams of Osiris” with “Fear The Ambulance”, “Kicked To The Kerb” and “White The Lightning” concluding a madcap but inspired performance.

NoG were showcasing their new EP (which will be reviewed soon – thanks fellas!) and were technically brilliant. Modern prog meets Meshuggah is about as close as I can get to summing them up, always intricate, skull crushingly heavy at times and hugely entertaining throughout. Complicated guitar work (amazing custom 8 string amongst others), fluid 5 string basswork and complex concussive drumming combined stunningly well. The Rev D joined them to provide vocals for their two encores as NoGadeth (or should that be MegaNoG?) with “Five Magics” and “Lucretia” from “Rust In Peace” rounding off the evening's entertainment.

Despite this being the most sparsely attended Millennium Of Blood yet, all the bands played their hearts out and I thank them all wholeheartedly for their professionalism. Si from Musoplex again performed his magic and conjured up a superb sound. It only remains for me to thank the MoB crew and the fans for their support throughout the year. I wish you all a fantastic time over the festive season and look forward to seeing you all again in 2009!